hi, invading ur inbox again :) do you have any brachne headcanons or random fic ideas? i’m feeling the brachne drought atm
Hi, don't worry! It's been a while since I thought about Brandy and Arachne, and I actually missed them!
I don't have much to say about their relationship in canon, but I have some hcs about the 10th Hunger Games cancelled AU in my fic, where ✨Brandy lives✨ and they live together in D10 💅
I. Names
I included this in the fic. I like to think that Brandy initially categorically refused to call Arachne by her first name, calling her Crane instead (to emphasize the distance between them, their lack of familiarity) or princess (to tease her).
Only later she started calling her Arachne. Always and only Arachne.
Arachne, on the other hand, hadn't known Brandy's last name for a while, simply because she didn't care.
At first, in fact, she had no interest in getting close to Brandy: she was a District girl, her tribute, nothing more than her ticket for victory in the Hunger Games.
So why would she care about knowing anything about Brandy that wasn't relevant to her victory?
However, as the mentors' plan to sabotage the Games progressed, Arachne began to see Brandy no longer as a tribute, but as a person, and this began to make her more curious about Brandy.
So one day she decided to ask her last name, and Brandy, surprised by the question, replied that it was Allen.
A trivial detail, perhaps, but it was very important for both of them.
II. Nightmares
Both Brandy and Arachne often suffer from nightmares.
These nightmares are the aftermath of war: the bombings, the hunger, the constant fear of dying, of losing someone they love.
Arachne always wakes with a start, shaking and can't help but burst into tears at the memory of those visions.
Brandy manages to maintain her composure better, but the nightmares have an equally devastating effect: after waking, she lies still in bed, as if afraid to move a single muscle, staring at the ceiling. Once awake, she's unable to fall asleep, so she goes to the living room or the kitchen. She prepares breakfast in advance even if she's not hungry, tidies up what doesn't need tidying up, cleans what is already clean... Anything to do something and distract herself.
The two girls realize they have the same problem when they begin living together: Arachne tries to cry as quietly as possible, Brandy tries not to make a sound when she moves.
However, both notice.
They don't say it, though. They never say anything, partly because they don't want to face the issue and risk breaking down in front of the other, partly because they don't want the other to feel uncomfortable.
Only when they start sleeping in the same bed, they can no longer pretend nothing is happening, and so, when Arachne bursts into tears or Brandy suddenly wakes up, the other is always ready to welcome her into her arms, in a comforting hug. Without saying anything, there's no need for words.
III. Spiders
Arachne loves spiders. She's named after the woman who was transformed into the first spider, after all, and she truly doesn't understand what people find so scary in those tiny, tender and furry creatures.
Brandy, on the other hand, hates them. Actually, it would be more accurate to say she's terrified of them.
She truly can't stand spiders, they disgust her deeply, and she'll never understand Arachne's obsession with those creatures. This means that, whenever there's a spider in the house, Arachne is the one who has to shoo it away.
She softly picks it up (much to Brandy's horror, who screams at her to squash it) and carries it outside with a gentleness that Brandy truly can't understand and that seems so strange to her for someone like Arachne.
And of course, Arachne never misses an opportunity to tease Brandy about her fear for spiders which she finds so absurd :D
IV. Clothes
Arachne and Brandy's wardrobe is completely opposite: while Arachne mostly dresses in black, Brandy loves colorful clothes.
Jackets, shirts, trousers, boots, headscarves of any color...
Even though Brandy sometimes teases Arachne about her clothes, saying that all that black makes her depressed, she secretly loves her in black. It's one of the many things that make her unique.
And Arachne thinks the same about Brandy.
V. Marsyas
Arachne has two older brothers: Alexander and Marsyas.
Alexander, like Arachne's parents, didn't accept his sister leaving the Capitol to live in a District with her former tribute.
As a result, her relationship with them cooled and their interactions cut to the bone.
Marsyas, on the other hand, has always been more understanding and open toward the Districts than his parents and his brother were, and than Arachne was before she met Brandy and the other tributes.
So, despite his initial disorientation, he accepted his sister's decision, even visiting her in the house she shares with Brandy on one occasion.
It's was a somewhat awkward meeting, actually: Marsyas was quite taciturn, and the atmosphere was strange.
At one point, without warning, Marsyas turned to his sister and said: "So, she's your girlfriend."
It was not a question, but a statement. Arachne and Brandy exchanged a look, and Arachne calmly replies: "Yes." Because, simply, it was the truth.
Marsyas accepted it: he saw her sister happy with that girl, serene and spontaneous like she's never been before. And her girlfriend, Brandy seemed tough, someone capable of protecting his little sister and making her happy. Despite the creepy smile Brandy showed off when, walking him to the door, she whispered that if he told something about her and Arachne to the Crane family, she would have put what she'd learned on the job to good use.
Marsyas hadn't quite understood what that girl meant, and he didn't really want to understand.
Anyway, no, he wouldn't tell anyone in their family: the Cranes weren't ready, and Arachne would only suffer if he said something.
He knew it, and Brandy knew it too.
VI. Future
This one is pretty random, but I like to think that, once they're grown up, Arachne continues to live in District 10, deciding to open a small pub with Brandy and rent the apartment above, so they can live peacefully and have a stable job.
Brandy isn't entirely of the opnion at first: she's not sure she wants to leave the slaughterhouse, after all, she's been doing that job since she was a child.
But eventually, she's persuaded by Arachne and her enthusiasm, thinking that, maybe, she'd never loved working at the slaughterhouse so much. Maybe, because of the way she'd grown up, she'd always thought about that job as her only option.
And once it was, the only option for her.
But things in Panem and District 10 are changing, and perhaps she could afford some new opportunities.
Writing this makes me want to write a long fic about their life in District 10 or something about their period in the Capitol, but I have no time. Hopefully, someday 🥲
